The Beast
by Nicky4
Summary: Team Rocket captures pikachu and Ash wants him back in the worst way.


Still don't own 'em but I'm working on it.

The Beast

Jessie, James and Meowth spied on Ash and company as they made their way though a desert landscape.  Once again they were trying to catch Pikachu, Ash's first and most powerful pokémon. 

Team Rocket looked at each other and all nodded in agreement now was the time to strike.  All three members ran in separate directions to their waiting tanks.  They had three Jessie and Meowth had shockproof polymer tanks, Meowth's was specially designed to fit his small stature.  James' tank was made out of steel to provide resistance to fire attacks.  

The three tanks rolled out into the desert canyon, "The twerps are going to cut through that canyon.  James, you circle around the rise and cut them off from the other end, Meowth provide support from the ridge," Jessie commanded her two partners.

"Roger," both Meowth and James nodded in agreement from their respective tanks.

Jessie slowly cut off Ash-tachi's escape from the rear.  James pushed his tank full throttle around the Mesa to cut them off from the front.  Meowth took up a position from atop a bluff overlooking the canyon they were cutting through.  "I'm in position," Meowth said.

"Ready," James announced through his radio he had rounded the mesa to enter the canyon that Ash-tachi were walking through and had cut them off.

"I'm set, I'll move in." Jessie pushed her tank into gear.  It lurched forward belching forth a cloud of acrid smoke.

"Roger, moving in from this end," James said as he too moved his tank towards the twerps.  

"I've got 'em in sight," Meowth said as he peered through the targeting scope, "I've got you two on either side you should have visual soon."

"I have visual.  I'll hold here," James stopped the tank.  He stood from the drivers seat and loaded a shell into the breech of the tank's main gun.  He then sighted the twerps in with the targeting scope.

"Don't let them pass. I'll catch up," Jessie accelerated the tank which kicked up a small cloud of dust.

"What's that?" Ash asked at the sight of a dust cloud rising some distance behind them.

"I don't know Ash," Misty said as she turned to look at the cloud.

"It's a…tank!" Brock shouted as Jessie's tank came into view.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Meowth dhat's right."

"Team Rocket," all three trainers said together.   

"Hand over that pikachu you little twerp."  Jessie quickly closed the distance between herself and Ash-tachi.  

"Let's get out of here!" Ash shouted to Brock and Misty.  The three took off unknowingly running towards James' tank.

"James they're heading your way," Jessie radioed to her partner.

"Got 'em," James sighted them in then pushed the trigger.

  A shot landed directly in front of Ash-tachi throwing up sand and debris.  They shielded themselves from the blast, "Run this way!" Ash shouted and the trio attempted to outflank James' tank.  Meowth fired a shot over their heads that exploded a short distance ahead of them.  Again Ash-tachi shielded themselves from the debris, "We're gonna have to fight our way out of this.  Pikachu Thunder!"  Pikachu immediately complied and unleashed a powerful Thunder attack against Jessie's tank.

Jessie laughed, "This tank is made of non conductive polymers. It's shock proof."  A mechanical hand reached out from Jessie's tank and grabbed Pikachu.  Jessie then threw the tank in reverse to make her getaway.  "I wish this was an Italian tank then it would have three reverse gears instead of one."  The tank slowly crawled away from the trio who immediately started to chase after it.  Jessie left the slow moving tank to drive itself and stood up to work the gunner's position. She sighted Ash-tachi in and loaded a shell.  Jessie pushed the trigger and a shell hurled from the barrel directly in front of Ash-tachi exploding directly at their feet knocking them all over.

"Is everyone all right?" Ash asked.

"I'm okay," Brock said as he shook his head.

"What about you Misty…Misty!"  Ash saw that Misty lay bleeding from a deep wound on her left arm.  "Misty are you all right?"

Misty only groaned and weakly said, "It hurts," through her gritted teeth.

"Brock get the first aid kit!" Ash was trying to remain calm even though he was in a near panic.  Brock complied and Ash rummaged through looking for what he needed, he opened a tube of antiseptic gel, "Brock find something to stop the bleeding, some kind of bandage, something!"

"All we have is band aids," Brock looked helplessly through the first aid kit.

"Damn it Brock band aids are not going to stop this bleeding find something fast! Look through the bags! " Ash had lifted Misty's arm above her heart in the hopes that it would staunch some of the blood flow.

Brock began to tear through all their bags.  Opening Misty's, he found her sanitary napkins, "Ash there's nothing in the bags except some napkins."

Ash turned to Brock with a look of impending doom but then shouted, "Give me one of those!"

Brock tossed the feminine hygiene product to Ash who opened it and placed it on the wound on Misty's arm, "Hold this in place, I need to make a bandage."

Ash pulled out one of his shirts and ripped it to tatters.  He wrapped the pad in the bandages and tightly tied them.  "Misty," he lightly slapped her face, "Misty, please be all right."

"Hey Ash, it hurts really bad but I'll survive."

"Brock stay with her, I've got to follow Team Rocket," Ash started to follow Team Rocket

"Ash you don't even know where they are or where they are going."  Brock tried to reason with him.

"This is a desert.  That tank is going to kick up a cloud of dust wherever it goes.  I'll follow it, I'll follow it until I have my revenge."   Ash clenched his fist the rage building within him.

"Ash," Misty said as she sat up slightly, "we'll come too."

"Misty you're hurt," Ash started.

"We have to get Pikachu back."  Misty's eyes showed determination even as her body was still weakened by blood loss.

"We'll have to go over the mesas the tanks will have to stick to the canyons so we can get ahead of them.  If we get separated just follow the dust plumes." Ash turned to chase after Team Rocket.

Time's wasting Brock," Misty said as she chased after Ash even though she was injured and not able to keep up very well.

"These two will be the death of me." Brock muttered aloud to himself as he went to help Misty.

James and Meowth proceeded to the prearranged rendezvous point and waited for Jessie to show up.  Both were leaning against their tanks when Jessie pulled up to joined them, "I caught Pikachu!" Jessie said cheerfully as she popped out of the hatch in the turret she held the small cage containing Pikachu.

Pikachu tried to shock Team Rocket but the specially designed cage made it impossible.  Pikachu sighed he knew that he would have to wait to be rescued by Ash, "Pikapi," pikachu said sadly.     

"C'mon you two," Jessie said as she put pikachu's cage back into her tank and started to climb down the hatch herself, "I want to get out of this stinking desert."  She closed the hatch and slid down to the driver's seat.  James and Meowth got into their tanks and followed Jessie.  All three wanted to get out of the desert as quickly as possible.

Ash-tachi climbed atop another mesa as they followed Team Rocket's dust plumes.  Even though it was almost dark they could see Jessie and James inflating their meowth shaped balloon.  The balloon was almost fully inflated when Ash called out his cyndaquil, "Cyndaquill use flamethrower on that balloon."  Cyndaquill loosed a devastating flamethrower on the balloon, which exploded throwing Jessie and James away from the blast but not sending them blasting them off. 

Meowth was still in his meowth-sized tank watching Jessie and James work when the balloon blew up.  He quickly scurried down into the tank and sighted in where the flamethrower came from.  He fired a round that exploded near a rock outcropping.  Ash-tachi, however, had already moved from there and were planning a new attack.

"Vulpix flamethrower!" Meowth heard Brock say as a burst of flame came from a different location hitting Meowth's tank.  Meowth turned the turret towards the source of the flames and prepared to fire a shot just before he was hit by another flamethrower from a different direction.  Meowth noticed his tank was becoming uncomfortably warm but evacuation at the moment was not an option.  He fired the shell at the source of the first attack then began to swing the turret toward the second attacker who immediately put out its attack.  Meowth loaded another shell and pressed the fire button.  The gun's sensor indicated that the barrel was over heated and was not able to fire. "Damn, these polymers won't conduct electricity but dhey do conduct heat, dis gun's too hot!" Meowth shouted as he decided to bail out of the tank.  He landed on the dirt and began to run towards Jessie and James who were both coming to the realization that they were being ambushed. "Get up youz two we's under attack," a flamethrower attack came from a third location and hit Meowth's tank.  The tank's fuel tank was breached and it blew up with a massive explosion knocking Meowth to the ground and causing Jessie and James to shield themselves from the flying debris.

"Let's get to the tanks!" Jessie shouted as she got back up.  She ran to her tank that contained the still caged pikachu while James and Meowth got into James' tank.  Both tanks roared to life as they pulled out from the canyon they parked in.  Both Jessie and James fired their tanks' main guns at the focus of the attack before escaping the confines of the canyon for more open desert.

Brock rejoined Ash and the still wounded Misty next to Meowth's shattered tank, "Where do you think they are going Ash?" Misty asked.

"That way," Ash pointed,  "I could tell by the wind when we we're up on the mesa. They are going to try to get back to their headquarters."

"How are we going to stop them?" Brock asked.

Ash looked down at the dirt and picked up an unexploded shell, "By any means necessary."

Jessie, James and Meowth regrouped out in the desert away from the valleys that concealed their attackers.  Jessie scanned the area with an infrared sensor but turned up no trace of anyone following them.  "I think we lost them," Jessie radioed to James, "Meowth, what happened?  Why did you stop firing at them?"

Meowth put the radio headset to his ears, " I had no choice the gun barrel was overheated, it wouldn't fire."

"So you abandoned a perfectly good tank just to save your skin, the boss will kill us!" Jessie was infuriated at Meowth and cowed by what the boss would say.

"If I staid in dhat tank I'd be Meowth Mix right now!  If youz want to stay in that polymer death trap fine by me."  Meowth huffed as he crossed his arms.

"Jessie we're going to have to get back to base or radio for more supplies.  We can't sit here all night with the tanks engines running or we'll run out of fuel before morning."  James pointed out. 

"Maybe we should just try driving through tonight we'd at least have cover of darkness," Meowth stated.

"They got us under cover of darkness I don't want to take a risk of going though those canyons again."  Jessie called back through her radio.

"We're going to have to go back through sometime it's the only way back to the base." James called back, "The boss won't like it if we abandon the tanks."

Jessie cursed to herself, James had her there, "Fine radio HQ and have them drop supplies nearby.  We'll go through in the morning."

Jessie left her tank's infrared sensor operating and set the alarm to go off anytime something showed itself.  Unfortunately for her and her beauty sleep there were a lot of scavenging pokémon around and by morning she was exhausted.

James and Meowth decided to just sleep the night away and were both ready when the plane made a supply drop.  Waking Jessie they made their way over in their tanks to get the fuel and supplies.  They filled both of their tanks fuel tanks, loaded shells into their armories and packed food, water and medical supplies into their respective places then set out for the canyons they needed to cross to get to their destination.

"James," Jessie started, "do you think we can get back before night?"

"If we don't have any calamities we should make it."  James said with confidence as the two tanks began to roll into a canyon.

At the break of dawn Ash rose from the sleeping bag he was sharing with Misty.  They shared the sleeping quarters because of the blood loss she had suffered the previous day had made her prone to being chilly, that and he enjoyed being next to her.  Placing a pair of binoculars he had taken from the remains of Team Rocket's balloon to his eyes he scanned the desert when he spied the two tanks heading back in the direction of the canyons. "Misty, Brock get up they're on the move again!"

"Just a couple more minutes Ash," Misty snuggled a little closer to Ash.

"We've got to get up now Misty, Brock get your lazy ass up!" 

"Mmmmm, oh Nurse Joy lower, you too Officer Jenny."

Ash stared at the weird rock pokémon trainer then shouted again, "Get up now Brock!"

"Aaahhhh!" Brock yelled, "Ash why did you interrupt such a wonderful dream?"

"Team Rocket's on the move." Ash said as he picked up his backpack and a rifle that he had also liberated from Team Rocket's balloon.

"Don't worry Ash we'll get them," Misty said as she got up from their sleeping bag wincing and grasping her bandaged arm.

"Are you all right Misty," Ash asked as he helped Misty to stand.

"Yeah I'm fine it just hurts a little," Misty gave Ash a weak smile.

Ash nodded to Misty he understood that she was still hurt but did not want to make him worry.  "I'll go on ahead you two follow me."  With that he was off after Team Rocket again.

Ash crossed the mesas as quickly as possible skidding to a stop when he reached the canyon Team Rocket's tanks were in.  They had passed the spot he was standing at a few minutes before but Ash didn't care.  From his vantage point he could see that the valley turned to the right and that Team Rocket was still a ways away from knowing it was coming up.  He ran to where he assumed the canyon would turn and Team Rocket would come through.  His luck was rewarded because the area they would pass through would be wide enough for only one tank to pass at a time.

Ash quickly surveyed the area it was a narrow canyon which provided the fastest way for Team Rocket to get out of the desert, outside of flying out.  The only problem was that there was a second canyon that connected where the narrowest part was that would offer a means of escape but would require backtracking into the desert to take full advantage of it.

"Ash!" Ash heard Brock call out to him as he helped Misty over some rocks, "Wait up."

"Brock use geodude and onix to block that passage way," Ash pointed to the narrow part of the canyon just ahead the second valley.  "I've got something else to do,' Ash skidded down to the floor of the valley and began to dig in the sand.  He tore off his backpack and pulled out the unexploded shell he picked up from the ruins of Meowth's tank.  He buried it in the sand leaving the very tip exposed a surprise for Team Rocket.

Ash could hear the rumble of the tanks' engines' as he scurried back up the cliff.  He motioned for Brock to put onix and geodude back in their pokéballs then motioned for both Brock and Misty to crouch down and stay hidden.  Ash hid behind some rocks and picked up the rifle he set the sights crosshairs on the tip of the tank shell and waited.

Jessie, James and Meowth unknowingly were driving into an obstacle.  James was in the lead tank with Meowth; Jessie was in the second tank with the captured pikachu.  They were keeping a watchful eye out for trouble but felt confident that they could handle whatever got in their way.  

James slowed down when the blocked passage came into view, "Jessie the passage is blocked ahead."

"Can we go over it or blast through it?" She asked in response.

"It doesn't look too bad, we ought to be able to clear it with one or two shots."

"No problem Jimbo," said Meowth as he aimed the tanks main gun at the rocks, "just slow down a little."  James radioed to Jessie that he was going to slow down to let Meowth use the cannon on the rockslide. 

Meowth fired the cannon at the rockslide.  Some of the debris was removed but another shot or two would be necessary to clear the obstruction completely.  "Move in a bit closer James.  I almost have it," Meowth prepared to fire again.

Ash watched the first tank roll over the tank shell he planted in the sand.  They were acting exactly as he expected them, attempting to blast through the small barricade.  The first tank rolled over the shell and the second one followed close behind.  Ash tensed as second tank rolled next to the shell.  He exhaled, closed his left eye, took aim with the right sighting in exactly on the shell's tip and fired.  "Damn," he cursed when the bullet impacted on one of the tank's wheels instead of the shell's tip.  Ash ejected the spent round, regulated his breathing, closed his left eye again and fired.  This time his aim was true the rifle bullet connected directly with the shell's tip causing it to explode almost directly under the right caterpillar tread of the second tank, disabling it.

Jessie was following James's tank closely when she heard what sounded like a large stone slam against a part of her tank.  She decided to ignore it but couldn't ignore what happened next.

A massive explosion tore into the tank bringing it to a halt.  "James!" she yelled into her radio, "I have damage!"  Jessie exited the driver's seat and rushed to the turret scanning for the culprit.  The flash of the scope of a sniper rifle caught her eye and she loaded a shell and fired blowing the target away.  She peered through the sight and a blast of flames scared her into ducking forgetting that there was some relative safety in the tank. Jessie waited until the fire cleared, loaded a shell and fired at the position the flamethrower came from.  She blew up some rocks but little else.  "James!  I've got a twerp following me I could use some assistance!"

"I'm on it Jessie," Meowth intoned into his radio set as he took a bead on Ash who was readying Cyndaquil for another flamethrower.  Flames blocked his field of vision as Brock unleashed the firepower of his vulpix.  Meowth swung the turret towards Brock, "Gottcha!" he yelled as flames again obscured his view.  He fired the tanks main gun and heard the shell explode on the hillside but couldn't see what had happened.

"I can still use some help over here!" Jessie's voice was more urgent now 

"Well I'm not doing to well over here!" Meowth shot back.

"What's going on?" Jessie was blindsided by another fire attack.

The attack on Meowth ended and he scanned for anything to shoot at.  By chance he saw Ash with Cyndaquil and aimed the tank's main gun at them. Ash unleashed Cyndaquil's flame thrower on the tank Meowth and James were in, blinding Meowth again.

Jessie, however, now had a clear shot at Ash who had fired the last flamethrower attack on her.  She aimed the main gun directly at him and pressed the fire button.  The control flashed 'gun barrel overheated.'  "Damn," Jessie cursed, "James, Meowth, I'm going to need cover, this tank's out of commission.  I'll bring pikachu and some supplies." Jessie cut her radio off and grabbed pikachu's cage as well as a bottle of water and a box of shells for the tank's gun.  

Jessie jumped from the rear hatch of her tank with pikachu and the supplies and made a run for James' tank.  A wall of flame passed in front of her causing her to drop the box of shells she was carrying.  Meowth brought the turret around and the attack ceased Jessie ran to the open hatch of James' tank and quickly ducked inside.  James closed the hatch behind her locking it securely.

"We've got to … get out of here James … those twerps … are homicidal!"  Jessie shouted between breaths.

James jumped into the driver's seat of his tank and pushed the heavy steel vehicle into a forward gear, turning to the canyon that wasn't blocked by the rockslide.  "Warp speed!" James shouted as he forced the tank's throttle open to full. The tank began to pull away from the attackers and race up the valley back towards the desert.  Meowth fired two shells, as the tank retreated, at no particular target in a futile gesture to keep them from following.

Ash watched the tank retreat back towards the desert.  He smiled a smile not of happiness but more of a cat-type that was getting ready to kill its prey.  Misty walked up and stood beside him, "Why are you so happy, they got away didn't they?"

"No, they did exactly what I wanted them to do, go back into the desert.  C'mon I want to stay in an area where we can keep an eye on them." Ash walked off to follow the tank, followed closely by Misty and Brock picked up the rear.     

Jessie, James and Meowth nervously eyed their surroundings.  It was the second time in as many days they were stuck in the desert looking back towards the hills, their only means of escape as well as the reason for their torture.  The Rocket trio was wary of tangling with Ash-tachi again. They had lost their Meowth sized tank and Jessie's tank and even though James' tank was made of steel and more resistant to fire attacks, it consumed fuel gluttonously compared to the polymer tanks.  

"How much fuel do we have left James?" Jessie asked.

"About half a tank.  Enough that we can make it back to headquarters." James answered confident even though he was far from it.

"We should radio headquarters and have them give us another supply drop."  Jessie looked to Meowth who was on the radio.

"No can do Jess.  That last battle with the twerps knocked out our antenna.  We's can't communicate with Headquarters."  Meowth turned up the volume on the headset that was only receiving static.  

"Damn!" Jessie cursed knowing that without supplies they wouldn't last long in the desert, "what is the safest way out of this place?"

James looked to his map then made some calculations on their GPS. "The safest route that we can take will also be the longest.  We'll be stretching our fuel supplies to the very minimum."  James pointed out the path through the desert. "Over here the canyons are shallower and wider.  We will be able to see the twerps easier."

"Let's go," Jessie said as she climbed into the driver's seat, "We can get through under the cover of darkness." Jessie conveniently forgot that she was the one who didn't want to attempt to go through under cover of darkness the night before.  The tank's engine revved and a cloud of dust kicked up from under the treads as Jessie steered towards the pass that offered them the best chance of getting home, alive.

Ash stood on a bluff over looking the desert watching the tank through a pair of binoculars a grim determination on his face.  "Give me the map," he said to both Brock and Misty.  It was Misty that brought it to him.

"Here Ash," Misty handed him the map.

"Thanks Misty.  How's the arm?"  Ash asked as he crouched down to open the map on the ground.

"It's doing better.  Just changed the bandage this morning," Misty rubbed the gauze covered wound on her arm.

"I promise Misty when we get Pikachu back we'll go to town and have your arm checked out."

"Let's just concentrate on getting Pikachu back Ash," Misty smiled and placed her hand on his shoulder.

Ash looked up to Misty and smiled, then placed the binoculars back to his eyes and watched Jessie, James and Meowth drive further to the south.  Ash plotted the course Team Rocket was taking, "they are heading in this direction," Ash drew a line on the map and frowned.  The area Team Rocket was heading towards had wider canyons and shorter cliffs, making attacks more difficult.  Ash was not going to be deterred by something as simple as topography though beyond the valleys was a wide low expanse of territory that is were Ash wanted to make his stand.  Now he just had to make sure Team Rocket went there.  "C'mon guys, let's go.  I want to keep Team Rocket in sight." Ash picked up his gear and Misty and Brock followed suite.

Team Rocket's tank speed across the desert at half speed.  Jessie had wanted to go faster but James said that the extra work the engine would have to do would burn fuel more quickly and they would run out faster.  Jessie wasn't too keen on walking and acquiesced James' advice.  For his part, James was keeping lookout for Ash and his friends from the tank's turret.  While Meowth, who for all intents and purposes had nothing to do, assisted James in watching the tank's radar screen.  

The tank itself was made so a single person could operate it effectively and two people could with some amount of redundancy still maneuver effectively, but three people was packing too many cooks in the kitchen even if one of them was a pokémon.  Jessie and James had an aborted idea to put Meowth in a pokéball but the threat of fury swipes was enough to nix that.  So they sweated it out together in the tank, without air-conditioning, another of James' ideas to save fuel.  The only cooling available was the fans that cooled the engines and the radiators and they provided no respite for the occupants of the tank.

By the time the sun set and the oppressive heat of the day mitigated, the tank had reached the canyon they were to go through.  Jessie nervously eyed the course ahead as she slowed down to let James scan the ridges to see if the twerps were nearby.  James signaled that it was all clear and Jessie speed up to their normal cruising speed.  

Ash-tachi had been following the tank all day in an effort to see where exactly it would be going.  Each time Ash would check on the tanks position he would plot the point then extrapolated the direction from that until he was certain of where Team Rocket was going.  Ash had determined which canyon Team Rocket was going to take an hour before and had guided his friends along the canyon's rim.  Their progress was slow because Ash was determined to keep a close eye on the tank until it entered the canyon.

When it did Ash turned to make his way as quickly as possible to the end of the canyon with Misty and Brock in tow.  "Our last chance to stop them is where this canyon ends." Ash stated between breaths.

"How are we going to do that Ash?" Misty asked between her own breaths.

"Leave that to me Misty."

Team Rocket slowly made their way through the canyon in the dark.  Jessie didn't want to draw attention to where they were so she turned off the tank's headlights.  The canyon was wide enough and the walls were at a shallow enough angle that the tank wouldn't crash into anything dangerous.  Even thought there wasn't much to crash into Jessie managed to get the tank hung up on some rocks several time before James suggested she either turn on the lights or slow down to avoid hitting things.  Jessie decided to just slow down some and for the most part avoided hitting anything major.  

James retired from standing over her in order to fit in the turret and sat behind the seat watching Meowth who kept watch on the infrared sensor looking for the twerps. Occasionally James would pop his head up into the turret to see if he could get a visual sighting of the twerps but without moonlight all he could see was the stars and rocks.  James looked to Pikachu as it slept in the glass jar lulled to sleep by the engine's rumble.  James envied the pikachu being able to sleep; for Team Rocket, until they got to headquarters, going to sleep could mean they would never wake up.

"Especially with Jessie at the wheel," James thought as he watched as Jessie steer the tank shaking her head every so often to keep alert.  When Jessie yawned James took the opportunity to strike up some conversation.  "Jessie do you want me to take over driving for a while you've been doing it all day practically?  You also didn't get a good night's sleep last night."

"I'm fine James there's no need for you to take over," the tank lurched over a medium sized rock and Jessie gave James a weak 'don't even say it' smile.

"Are you sure?  It wouldn't hurt for you to sit down and rest Jess," James said sympathetically.

Jessie started to nod off again, caught herself then finally resigned herself to taking a short break.  "All right, I'll rest for a few minutes but then I'm driving again."

"Whatever you say Jessie," James indulged her as they switched seats not even bothering to stop the tank.

James settled into the drivers seat as Jessie sank to the spot where he was sitting. She pulled a stray blanket over her knees then looked to James as if to say 'see I'm not tired at all.'  Another yawn broke through her façade so rather than admit defeat she stared down at her feet.  Within a few minutes she was sleeping lightly.

James looked over to see Jessie sleeping then turned to Meowth.  "Meowth make sure the twerps don't get too close to us because I don't think Jessie is in any condition to shot back right now," James said as quietly as possible.

"You got it James.  I'll wake her up if I see 'em"

James nodded then flicked on the headlights and opened the tank's throttle to gain more speed.  He didn't want to be in the desert any more than Jessie did but he wasn't as afraid of the twerps who were probably asleep anyway.  Little did James know that they were all ready watching him.

Ash, Misty and Brock were keeping an eye on the tank's whereabouts from further up the canyon.  The three were spread out with Misty and Ash on one side of the canyon and Brock on the other.  Misty and Brock were the closest to the tank while Ash was some distance ahead scouting for a good place to ambush.  The trio wanted to stay as far from the tank as possible to avoid their detection. Ash also did not want to get too far ahead of his comrades so he kept within visual distance, which was difficult because there was no moon out.  The tank's slow speed made their journey somewhat easier as the rocky terrain of the mesas did not make it easy for them to move quickly.  All three, however, were surprised when the tank's lights suddenly came on and its speed increased. 

"Ash!" Misty called, "the tank is speeding up!"

"Dammit," Ash cursed to himself.  "Everybody run as quickly as possible to the end of this canyon!"

All three ran as quickly as they could around the crags and gullies trying and succeeding in staying ahead of Team Rocket's tank.  The tank had to navigate around multiple 'S' shaped bends that kept the canyon from being a strait shot through.  Ash paused at one of the 'S' shaped bends.  It was larger than the others they had passed and offered a small measure of protection whereas the others provided little if any.

Brock was the first to catch up with Ash after he stopped.  "Ash!  Why have you stopped here?"

"We are going to need a little more time," said Ash as he caught his breath.  "Brock do you think you can hold them here for a little while, while me and Misty set up a trap further down?"

"Anything I can do Ash," Brock answered.

"Don't worry about stopping them just delay them as long as possible."

Brock nodded to Ash as Misty ran up to them both.  "Ash what's going on?" her breathing was labored.

"Brock's going to hold off Team Rocket here while we go down the canyon a little ways." Ash took off running again.

"Ash!" Misty called after him before she too took off running as best she could.

James was being extra careful not to run into anything dangerous while Jessie slumbered.  He was doing a much better job driving than Jessie was, even Meowth paid him that compliment.  Still James' desire was to, as quickly as possible, get through the canyon, deliver pikachu to the boss and get another assignment that didn't involve the twerp trio.  

James sighed as he looked over to the eastern horizon.  Light was beginning to illuminate the sky.  Soon it would be morning and soon he would be able to run the tank at sufficient speed to get them away from the twerps for good.  He knew Jessie would agree when she woke up.  "James," Meowth said as he glanced up from the infrared sensor, "I jus' got tree blips moving ahead and away from us." 

"Are they people or pokémon?" James asked.

"Too hard ta tell.  There's too much interference from the ground."

"What is the ground hot too?"

"No dummy dey's keepin' low to ta ground. The heat signatures get blocked when dey go behind a rock.  Sheeze complicated equipment is too much for you simple-minded humans.  Not dhat it matters now. Dhey've disappeared."

"It was probably some pokémon we spooked."

"You's probably right but maybe we's should wake sleepin' beauty over dhere," Meowth pointed to where Jessie lay with a blanket wrapped around herself.

James thought better than to wake Jessie from the very slumber she didn't want to partake in.  "No let her rest it was probably just nothing," James resumed driving.

"You's probably right. I hope."  Meowth resumed watch over the infrared and the radar then noticed something moved on the radar, something big.

As the sun peaked over the horizon James saw it too, "An Onix!"

Ash and Misty ran as fast as they could.  It would be daybreak soon and Ash wanted to start as soon as possible.  He skidded down to the canyon floor stopping short of a brackish pool.  "Totodile go!" he shouted and the small dancing reptilian pokémon emerged from its ball.  "Totodile use your water gun and fill this whole area with water."

"Totodile!" the cheerful pokémon agreed and immediately shot its water gun into the brackish pool.

"Ash!" Misty cried out as she skidded down the embankment, "what are you doing?"

"This area is a depression and I'm using totodile to fill it so Team Rocket won't be able to pass through.  If you use your water pokémon too it will fill a lot quicker."  Ash looked at Misty hopefully.

Misty immediately pulled he bag off her shoulder and retrieved her pokéballs.  "Go staryu, poliwhirl!"  Psyduck immediately popped out of its pokéball, "all right you too psyduck.  Staryu, poliwhirl, psyduck help totodile with your own water gun."  All three of Misty's pokémon joined forces with Ash's totodile to fill the depression with water.

In the tank pandemonium had ensued briefly.  James' scream had woken Jessie who was about to smack James on the head until she saw the onix.  She too panicked and tried to pull James out of the tank's driver seat so she could make the getaway.  Onix did a rock throw and a number of boulders landed behind the tank effectively blocking their escape by going backwards.

Jessie had assumed the drivers seat by forcibly removing James from it.  James protested but Jessie reasoned that he should work the tank's cannon because he was supposed to be a man and they were supposed to know about guns and stuff.  If it had been any other time Meowth would have laughed his tail off at Jessie's assertion that James was a man but now was not the time.  Instead Meowth was unloading a shell from the tank's armory so James could fire the main gun.

James loaded the shell then closed the breech of the gun.  He looked into the range finder and fired.  The shot sailed past the onix exploding harmlessly to its rear.

"Nice going sure shot," Meowth said right after the shell missed.

"Stuff it furball.  I'm getting the range," James answered back as he grabbed another shell from Meowth and shoved it into the breach of the gun just as the onix did another rock throw.

"Yah well dhat onix is gettin' the range too."

"Leave it to me," James peered through the range finder and pressed the fire button.  This time the shell exploded almost directly under the onix, which immediately began to burrow underground for an attack.

James slammed another shell into the breech, lowered the gun's elevation and fired into the dirt.  The high explosive shell blew up on impact revealing a startled onix that reared up to its full height, an intimidating gesture to a pokémon but a fatal error when battling a tank.  James elevated the gun barrel reloaded and fired point blank into the onix, which responded with a loud roar not a normal onix roar but one tainted with agony.  The rock-type pokémon fainted with very serious wounds, which would need attention soon.

Brock watched his onix take on Team Rocket's tank and tried to use a leer attack.  Onix was down and Brock recalled it.  He then threw out geodude, "geodude," said the small two-armed boulder.  Brock knew it would be harder for team rocket to hit geodude than onix but it would be harder for Brock to contain Team Rocket into the 'S' shaped bend.

"Geodude, don't let that tank through," the rock pokémon acknowledged by repeating its name and hovering down to the canyon to sit directly in front of the tank.  The strategy was a good one.  Team Rocket was trapped because geodude would simply hit the tank with mega punches if they tried to pass and geodude was too small and at too close a range to be a target of the tank's main gun.

That would not stop James who quickly figured that if the pokémon's trainer was driven off the pokémon would follow.  He loaded a shell into the breech swung the turret around to where he saw the onix disappear from and the geodude appear from and fired.  An explosion ripped through the rocks sending up small pieces of debris above the canyon.  James scanned the canyon walls looking for movement he was rewarded as the sun continued to illuminate the canyon and a figure crawling up the rocks was sighted.  James didn't care which twerp it was as he loaded then fired another round at the moving target he only wanted to make sure that it didn't have a chance to strike back.  Round after round pushed the figure up the wall.  Finally the geodude, concerned for its trainer, moved away from its sentry post.  With the way now clear Team Rocket was free to move forward.

Ash and Misty watched their exhausted water pokémon as they one by one collapsed.  First was totodile who had been filling the longest, then poliwhirl, psyduck collapsed long after it should have because it was too brainless to know better.  Only staryu, Misty's most powerful water pokémon, was still filling the depression with water when Team Rocket's tank was heard.  "Misty that's enough." Ash shouted, "Recall staryu and hide in the rocks."  Misty found a safe place to hide with the pokémon while Ash hid behind a less safe but more commanding perch with his cyndaquil and chickorita.  Both teens watched as Team Rocket's tank made its way around the bend and as it came face to face with the flooded canyon floor.

The tank halted its forward progress stopping a few meters before the shoreline.  James swiveled the turret around looking for any dangers stopping after making a 360-degree scan of the area.  Satisfied it was safe to come out James emerged with a long pipe.  Ash watched as James hopped out of the tank with the pipe, "Oh no, they're going to put up the snorkel."  James climbed atop the tank and stuck the pipe over the air intake as Ash popped up and ordered cyndaquil to use a flamethrower attack.  A blast of flame headed towards James who immediately ducked behind the tank for protection.

When the flamethrower attack ended James burst from his hiding place and ran to the rear of the tank opening the hatch quickly and diving in.  He closed the hatch behind him and ordered Jessie to, "Drive!"

The tank lurched forward again and entered the water going in deeper and deeper until the water nearly covered the main body of the tank leaving only the turret above water.  With the snorkel up the tank was able to draw the needed air to keep its internal combustion engine running.  Inside the tank, however, Team Rocket soon realized that James had not closed the rear hatch properly and that water was leaking in and slowly filling the interior.  Jessie and James paid it no concern both knew that the flooding would cease once they go to the other side; Meowth on the other hand was not too happy about the flooding.

Ash watched the tank go into the pool of water he created and begin to drive through.  Realizing he needed to move quickly he ordered chikorita to use vine whip and grab onto the snorkel.  Chikorita complied and its vine whips wrapped around the snorkel but the tank continued rolling towards the other shore.  Chikorita pulled with all its might and the snorkel bent slightly chikorita pulled again and the snorkel bent slightly more.  Chikorita gave one last pull and the snorkel that was not put on with a tight seal snapped off the air intake.  The tank sputtered and ground to a halt immobilized.

It was over for Team Rocket with the tank stopped and slowly flooding it would only be a matter of time before they drowned, the only other option was surrender.   James took off his white Team Rocket shirt stuck it over the bristle end of a broom and stuck that out the top hatch of the tank.  Meowth was the first to climb out he raised his hands in the air to show that he was surrendering.  Jessie climbed out next with pikachu's glass cage. She too raised her hands in the air after putting the cage on the top of the tank.  James followed suite mimicking the same gesture.

Ash skidded down the slopes of the canyon till he reached where Team Rocket drove into the pool.  He stopped there and looked at the stranded Rockets with a smile on his face.  Chikorita ran up to his side, "chikorita use vine whip to bring pikachu's cage here."  Chikorita extended a vine, picked up the glass cage, and brought it back handing it to Ash.  Ash opened the cage and pikachu bounded out with a, "pikapi!"  Both trainer and pokémon hugged.  Misty emerged from her hiding place after seeing that the danger was past and Brock finally caught up with his friends.  Both joined Ash at the edge of the pool.

"Well aren't you going to rescue us!" Jessie shouted not realizing that that may be the worst thing she could do right now.

"Chikorita vine whip bring them over here."  Chikorita complied with Ash's command and grabbed the Rocket's with its vines and deposited them on the shore still holding them securely.

Ash then turned to Cyndaquil, "Cyndaquil use flamethrower on that tank."  Cyndaquil's attack went into the open hatch on the tank's turret and filled the inside with flames. When the gas tank ruptured there was a powerful explosion that destroyed the inside of the tank and blew off the back hatch.  With the back hatch missing water flowed in and flooded the tank completely.   

Chikorita still held on to the Team Rocket members after it had brought them safely across.  Ash walked up to them with pikachu on his shoulder, an icy glare on his face and the glass cage in his hands.  He dropped the glass cage on the ground and said, "If you ever hurt my friends again," he brought his foot down on the glass cage shattering it into pieces, "I won't be so forgiving."  Ash turned his back on the Rockets, "let them go chikorita."

Jessie, James and Meowth were shivering and had their eyes closed as they waited for the expected blasting off. When they opened their eyes they saw Ash-tachi walking away from them but Team Rocket no longer had any desire to follow them.

The End


End file.
